Toast to the FCI Program of MSH: Women Deliver 2016 (#WD2016)

Barbara Ayotte is Senior Director of Communications at Management Sciences for Health. This post originally appeared on the Global Health Impact Blog.

Women Deliver attendees celebrate the launch of the FCI Program of MSH Photo: Joey O’Loughlin

The FCI Program of MSH will maintain and strengthen the spirit and vision of FCI. –Dr. Jonathan D. Quick, MSH

MSH hosted a lively reception at the close of the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. More than 150 guests joined us to celebrate the recently launched FCI Program of MSH, an advocacy and accountability program drawing upon the staff and projects of Family Care International (FCI). The work of the FCI Program of MSH builds on FCI’s 30-year history of effective advocacy for improved maternal, newborn, and adolescent health and for sexual and reproductive health and rights. Women Deliver began in 2007 as a program of FCI, so this 4th and largest-ever Women Deliver conference was an especially appropriate place to honor FCI’s legacy and celebrate the FCI Program’s future within MSH.

The FCI Program of MSH will maintain and strengthen the spirit and vision of FCI and its understanding of the power of advocacy to effect real change for women and girls. Thank you, FCI team, for bringing that spirit to MSH. -Dr. Jonathan D. Quick (@JonoQuick)

Ann M. Starrs, President and CEO, Guttmacher Institute, and board member and former President of FCI

We at FCI are scrappy, energetic, innovative, very productive, incredibly dedicated, and have always been committed to working in real, effective partnership. I may have left FCI, but I will always think of FCI as “we,” not “they,” and I’m so proud of what we’ve been and what we will become.–Ann M. Starrs (@annmstarrs)

FCI has been our long-time, valued partner, working side-by-side to achieve better health for women and girls. There remains an unfinished agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we look forward to continuing to work with the FCI Program of MSH to see it through to the end.–Dr. Alma Virginia Camacho (@unfpa_lac)

Chunmei Li, Senior Manager, Johnson & Johnson

We at Johnson & Johnson have been partnering with FCI to strengthen the work of midwives for a number of years. We’ve been so impressed by FCI’s ability to translate complicated data into clear, concrete advocacy messages that midwives can use in their work. We look forward to continuing this happy journey together.–Chunmei Li (@ChunMeiLi)

I first worked with FCI in the early days of the Foundation’s work on safe motherhood and reproductive health in Mexico, and I’ve always been impressed by the strength of FCI’s relationships with both its donors and its partners. In fact, our relationship was so strong, for so many years, that we ultimately awarded FCI the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Here’s to another 30 years at MSH!”–Sharon Bissell (@macfound)

Luc de Bernis, UNFPA (retired)

I like FCI because I think advocacy is important for moving from words and data to action. FCI has always been able to own the data, to transform complex ideas into understandable concepts. I’m very happy to be here to celebrate FCI’s future as part of MSH – fantastique!–Luc de Bernis (@UNFPA)

Melissa Wanda, FCI Program of MSH, Kenya

If I say I am excited, it is a lie — I am elated! Let’s keep it real and continue this journey to improve more lives. I’m Melissa Wanda, proud to be a member of the FCI Program of MSH!–Melissa Wanda (@FCIatMSH)

Amy Boldosser-Boesch, Senior Director, FCI Program of MSH

We are honored to be joined by so many partners, fellow advocates, and donors that we’ve worked with closely for the past 30 years — in the halls of the UN or in cities and villages in Africa and Latin America.

FCI and MSH fit together so well because improvements in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health are not possible without strong health systems — which is MSH’s focus. And in order to have strong health systems, it’s essential to foster health equity and accountability by bringing the voices of communities to shaping health systems that meet their needs — which is FCI’s long-time focus. We are delighted that FCI’s mission and programs will continue within MSH, and we are delighted to be a part of the MSH family!–Amy Boldosser-Boesch (@FCIatMSH)